I have heard that it is based on the fare class your purchased (i.e. I have heard that it is based on elite status. I've never quite understood how Air Canada determines who gets what meal in business class as they typically NEVER have sufficient meals on board to ensure that you get your first choice. Personally, that's not a big deal, but I am surprised that they ran out of practically every entrée option on the business class menu. Another member of our party was sitting in Premium Economy and I later learned that, indeed, the chicken meal I had was from the Premium Economy meal service. As a result, I settled on the chicken meal with a sneaking suspicion that the chicken meal she described, being different than the menu item, was probably from the Premium Economy meal service. I asked if I could have the ravioli and I was told that they were also out of ravioli. A minute later the flight attendant arrived at my seat and told me that they had run out of beef tenderloin and indicated that they had cod available or a very nice chicken meal, different than the one on the menu. About 5 minutes later, I saw the flight attendant state the same thing to a passenger a couple rows up. Some time later, a different flight attendant than the one who took the meal orders came to my son who was sitting behind me and told him that they had run out of beef tenderloin and asked him for his second choice.
